I guess it really started when I lived in England, attended a British school, had a British friend, and she invited me come over for tea after school one day.

I rushed home, panicked. I had never had tea before. I didn’t know how to go to a real British tea party! I had no idea what to do! And my 12 year old mind was reeling!

My mother, being the fantastic mother that she was, pulled out her tea pot and made a batch of tea and talked me through the proper etiquette for a real tea party. Which, of course, included actually drinking the tea. She assumed I would want cream and sugar to satisfy my young palate. So we practiced. The nice way to pour tea, not dinking your spoon to much, not slurping, all of that.

Then I had my first taste of tea.

YUCK!

I didn’t like it at all. Then I was mortified that I had agreed to come over for tea and I didn’t like it! Oh well, I’ll just have to fake my way through it.

But alas, tea is not tea at all. Tea is supper. You can imagine my delight when I was presented with a roast and Yorkshire pudding and gravy instead of a measly cup of tea I would have to choke down!

After all this, I vowed up and down, left and right, that I did NOT like tea. I never really tried it again.

That is, until I fell in love with India and it’s culture.

Then I started drinking Chai like it was going out of style!

I tolerated chai tea, even though it did have that faint tea-ness that I didn’t care for, because it had a wonderful aroma, was spicy yet sweet at the same time, and was pure milky goodness.

I’m not talking about the chai you get at Starbucks that comes out of a carton and they add steamed milk. I’m talking about the real good stuff.

I even learned how to make it the traditional way! But I never drank it regularly after my trip to India. It was a lot of effort to make.

Then, in late 2008, I started volunteering with a nutritionist. She would always offer me tea. She would talk about how amazing it was for you and how good it tasted. Sometimes I took her up on her tea offer, but mostly I didn’t. Then I think one day I just decided I needed to be a tea drinker.

It started small. I got a box of tea bags. I went with what I knew. I got chai flavored.

Then I decided to venture out and got a couple of variety packs to see what I liked.

Slowly, over the past year and a half or so, I’ve decidedly fallen in love with tea.

I’ve fallen so hard, in fact, that I am now one of those tea snobs that spends exorbrant amounts of money on good quality loose leaf tea and notices the difference immediately.

I do admit, yesterday’s excursion did give me a little sticker shock.

It wasn’t cheap by any means. Not even what I would consider reasonable. But I guess love isn’t really reasonable.

Through my tea adventures, I have come to realize I don’t exactly care for black tea so much.

And I don’t drink it for the caffeine so that’s a moot point.

Green tea is my love.

And herbal teas.

Especially orange.

And ginger.

White tea suits my fancy as well.

So what spurred my splurge at Teavana yesterday?

A gift. A thoughtful, yet inexpensive gift. To me. From one of my bosses. One of the million.

That’s right. Just a little tea cage.

A $1 item spun me into a whirlwind resulting in over $100 of tea now sitting on my kitchen counter.

I think I will be drinking tea for the rest of the year.

On the upside, since I have spent so much money on tea and have to prove that it was a good investment, I think I am officially kicking my coffee habit. Well, at least that morning cup. I can’t say anything for our special Starbucks trips for mistos and macchiatos.

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3 Responses

hi leah, looks like you got some yummy teas from teavana! i love chai, too. have you tried the white ayurvedic chai tea? if you like white teas, chai and ginger, you’ll probably love it – it is one of my personal faves. enjoy!

I’m big into tea. I have tons and tons of tea. I prefer black tea though. I like white tea also. Herbal teas not at all and green tea is an occassionally ok. I think $100 on tea is perfectly reasonable! 🙂

Haha, love this story Leah 🙂 I’ve actually always loved tea (but I also loved straight espresso on first sip). Oddly, I don’t care for green tea at all. Too bitter maybe? I’m with you on the chai, definitely my favourite! I don’t drink tea that much though because I don’t care for hot drinks all that much. They make me sweat! 😛 I should start making iced tea to go along with my iced coffee…